Plans announced to complete Mountain Parkway expansion
PRESTONBURG, Ky. (WTVQ) — Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday announced plans to finish the final section of the Mountain Parkway expansion project in Eastern Kentucky.
Plans are now underway to build 13 additional miles of the Mountain Parkway in Magoffin County through Floyd County. Since the expansion began in 2014, nearly 32 miles of parkway widening have been complete or are under construction, according to a press release.
The Magoffin-Floyd section would extend from U.S. Highway 460 in Salyersville to Kentucky Highway 404 in Prestonburg.
“I am proud to say we are delivering on plans to complete a four-lane Mountain Parkway. Expanding the parkway to far Eastern Kentucky has been talked about since Gov. Bert Combs broke ground on the original parkway in 1963,” Beshear said in a press release. “Today, we are once again standing with Eastern Kentucky by building a parkway that is crucial to Appalachia’s strong economic future.”
In August, ground was broken for the $97.1 million Wolfe County segment which is expected to be completed by 2027.
Mountain Parkway construction timeline:
- Wolfe County | 11 miles | August 2022 – under construction, anticipated completion 2027
- Morgan County | 8.2 miles | 2017-2021
- Magoffin County West | 4.6 miles | 2019 – under construction, anticipated completion 2023
- Magoffin County Central | 5.7 miles | 2015-2018
- Salyersville Restaurant Row | 2.4 miles | 2016-2019
- Magoffin-Floyd | 13 miles | Under development
Beshear also announced the first phase of a $4.1 million Dawkins Line Rail Trail project will begin soon to improve the recreation trail. Phase 1 of the project will improve trail mobility for cyclists, hikers and horseback riders. Phase 2 will be awarded in spring 2023 and focus on constructing a trail over the Carver Tunnel to connect two ends of the trail in Magoffin County, as well as paving the remaining 12 miles to the end of the trail in Breathitt County.
